la vida ecuadoriana

good golly! today has been a much more eventful day than those past. after a brief morning session with the peace corps going over medical things and being shown skits prepared by our trainers about some situations we may encounter in our host families (see above photo of volunteer being served more food than he can imagine eating) ? it was time to delve into this new life of ours and meet our host families!

my family is lovely. here in my home live my new mother, father, brother (22 yrs old), and cousin (don?t worry family, you?re still my number one). but the entire block is occupied by the family of my father, and everywhere we go we seem to see more of my mothers family ? case and point: four of her family members all have fellow peace corps volunteers staying with them!

and so my host family time began. cooking with mi mama, visiting the fruit store to see what sorts of exotic fruits grow here, and having a big lunch with the family living here as well as my new sister, her husband, and their two adorable children.

and after lunch? mi mama and i went to a mass in the chapel at the local cemetery honoring the one month anniversary of her friend?s husband?s death. the little place was absolutely packed, with people swarmed around outside the door trying to listen. afterwards we headed to the family?s home for a bit of a celebration. imagine plastic chairs surrounding the perimeter of most rooms in the house, people sitting and talking just with those close to them as we are served yet another meal. soup, a unique form of cooked corn called mota, potato, meat., salad ? the works. (ive been told many a time, i am going to need to learn to eat as everywhere i go people are going to give me food). thankfully my mama isn?t into two simultaneous big meals either, so we had them pack up most of it to take with us and left ? apparently the polite thing to do if you aren?t going to eat much.

next up? visiting the family?s terrenos around town, where they grow everything from lemons and mandarins to herbs for making medicinal teas and corn. im excited to spend some time helping them care for the plants and learning all i can!

and after that, a little time out with my brother, friends, cousins, and another peace corps volunteer for a cervecito and some dancing.

so yes, life is busy but wonderful. sorry for the long update, but i thought some of you might like to hear ? and once full training starts next week, i probably wont have so much time to write!